GEICO Renters Insurance Review of 2023

It's important to remember that there are many different insurance companies out there, and it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. While GEICO is a popular choice for car insurance, it's worth exploring other options for other types of insurance, such as renters insurance. By doing research and comparing different companies, you can find the best coverage and rates for your specific needs.

The structure makes it difficult to assign a competitive edge to premiums on renters for GEICO as it is designed to offer products outside their internal insurance portfolio. GEICO is on the high end for premiums on average, but some markets are more competitive than others, and when it comes to bundling your auto insurance with your renters, you may not just find convenience but also savings.

See how GEICO renters insurance rates compares to other insurance providers:

About GEICO Insurance

Few people know that GEICO stands for Government Employees Insurance Company. The name takes us back to the original goal of the company which was to offer affordable car insurance to government employees and military personnel. It outgrew its own goals and today, the company boasts over 18 million policyholders and does business in all 50 states insuring more than just cars.

In 1996, GEICO was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffet, and currently is a wholly owned subsidiary. Over the last 20 years, the company has experienced incredible growth utilizing successful ad campaigns like the Caveman and Gecko. GEICO's brand recognition and ongoing creative ad campaigns support growing sales and service.

Today, the company offers renters insurance as one of a dozen different insurance coverages consumers can purchase. The sale of renters' insurance falls under the umbrella of the GEICO Insurance Agency. It is a unique decision by a company to create an independent agency and sell competitor’s renters insurance products to GEICO car insurance customers and prospects looking for both car and renters insurance. A leadership move that may have deterred costly company expansion, ongoing state insurance filings, or state regulations and restrictions complications and kept insurance premiums competitive.

How GEICO Insurance Ranks for Customer Service and Claims Response

Delivering a solid review on customer service and claims for GEICO and renters insurance is tough. GEICO has a superior rating for financial stability, but higher than average complaints according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recent survey. The surveys on both customer service and claims may be skewed as the information reported is usually from car insurance customers, not tentants. With the partnership of the GEICO Insurance Agency, the complaints or lack of service are harder to track. Each time a customer has an interaction that is less than favorable, the reporting may be attached to a partner company that is underwriting the renter's insurance. So in general, we find GEICO is average for both customer service and claims management based on website and online platform reviews we have seen.

GEICO Insurance Renters Insurance Overview

GEICO understands that protecting your car isn’t the only property you have or are considering protecting. While renters insurance is not required anywhere in the country, that doesn’t mean you should go without a renters policy. Recovery and replacement of items like your clothing, furniture, and even your electronics after a storm or fire on your own can financially drain even the toughest customer. Renter’s insurance offered through the GEICO Insurance Agency is designed to protect you from that type of loss by replacing your items and if required other tenants’ property as well.

It doesn’t matter where you live, a renters insurance policy is a benefit in a catastrophic event or an unfortunate accident, like a deck grill catching fire and damaging your property or the tenant’s apartment next door.

What are the Key Coverages for Renters Insurance?

A GEICO Insurance renters policy includes the basic coverages needed. But shoppers should make sure they understand the difference in actual cash value and replacement cost as shown next. With GEICO’s company structure replacement cost coverage for personal property may be part of the basic coverage depending on the state where you live.

Actual Cash Value(ACV) or Replacement Cost (RC)

Most basic policies include actual cash value as the determination for payment of damaged personal belongings in a loss. Always make sure you verify replacement cost coverage in your quote and policy for your personal property. Replacement cost means that if your 10-year-old couch is damaged in a fire, the insurance company will pay the cost to replace it with a new one, not a comparable 10-year-old one. You may pay a few dollars more over the year for this coverage, but it is well worth the extra premium.

Personal Property

Personal property is defined by insurance as clothing, furniture, kitchen items, and other personal belongings, like a bike, laptop, and jewelry. Be diligent in asking questions if you have high-end valuables or unique items as renters insurance may not provide adequate coverage in a basic insurance policy.

Liability Coverage

Liability coverage protects you against another person who sues you for bodily injury or property damage that they believe you or your family caused. There are a variety of limits available and we recommend choosing a high limit as the cost is relatively inexpensive to purchase more than the minimum of $100,000 usually offered.

Medical Expenses

This expense category is meant to help if someone has an accident on your property and wants you to pay the hospital or bodily injury damages. You don’t have to be found at fault in court to have this coverage paid to someone else for the accident.

Additional Living Expenses (Loss of Use)

This coverage is certainly beneficial as it provides additional expenses you incur when your home is uninhabitable for a period of time due to a covered loss and you and your family must live somewhere else while the repairs are made.

Additional Coverages Worth Considering

Increased Personal Liability Limits

Tenant personal liability is normally offered with a default limit of $100,000.

We recommend reviewing the cost between the highest liability limit available and the options offered at purchase.

If a tenant is found liable for a fire in an apartment complex and multiple units suffer a loss, the liability portion is what protects the tenant from paying out of pocket. However, once the liability limit is paid out by the insurance company the tenant becomes responsible for damages. The good news is this coverage is not restricted to the tenant's residence. For example, suppose a biking accident occurs away from home and the other party wants the tenant to pay for damages. The liability coverage can extend to the incident and defend the tenant.

Higher limits are cheap to buy whether the residence is in a small multi-unit residence, a single-family home or a large complex of connected apartments all should have added protection against lawsuits.

Water Backup

Coverage is designed to help repair damage from a backup of drains, sewer, septic, or sump pump overflow of water.

Personal Article Floater

Expensive items like jewelry, electronics, a bike, electric scooters, or other unique personal property may need special coverage. Be diligent in asking questions about how these items are covered. The default coverage may not be adequate and a personal article floater can offer a lower deductible and coverage for a lost item.

Identity Theft Protection

Coverage that monitors the insureds for identity theft. A variety of services and coverage are offered with reimbursement for specified expenses that occur due to an identity theft loss.

GEICO Insurance Renters Discounts

Bundling with Auto: Have more than one policy with GEICO and you can save on your premiums.

Home Security Systems: Safety is key so a security system reduces the annual premium.

Sprinklers, Smoke Alarms, and Fire Extinguishers: Fire can cause catastrophic damage, so a discount is given to tenants that reduce that exposure.

Company-specific discounts: GEICO Insurance Agency can offer other insurance carrier renters policies that may have additional discounts not shown in our article.

How Does GEICO Compare with Other Renters Insurance Companies?

We chose Progressive and Nationwide to compare with GEICO Insurance. Both companies offer options that are available through local independent agents, call centers, and online websites or mobile platforms. Each competitor has multiple quoting and servicing tools making the buying and servicing options robust for prospects and customers.

GEICO vs Progressive

GEICO offers multiple options for purchase and service with online, mobile, and agent options.

Progressive has state-of-the-art technology today with the ease of access to policy information including the mobile app at your fingertips.

Customers for both GEICO and Progressive can access policy information or pay a bill on the app, but GEICO customers are directed to report claims according to the company that insured them, which means, the GEICO app may not be where claims are filed. Both companies offer basic discounts and coverages, but Progressive edges out GEICO as the structure of GEICO’s path to purchase a renters policy may feel complicated along with access to customer service or claims reporting.

GEICO vs Nationwide

Nationwide has developed a niche market for tenants who might be first-time purchasers of renters insurance or have little personal property to cover. Both companies offer a basic renters policy for customers that have minimal coverage needs. However, savings on the multi-policy discount options like car and home go to GEICO. Both companies have exclusive and independent agents selling and providing customer service for renters policies. But Nationwide has the edge in both customer service and claims satisfaction over GEICO as the stability of one company is easier to measure than the multiple carriers GEICO partners with to secure coverage. We give Nationwide the edge for the claims service rankings as GEICO doesn’t have a rank specific to their company for renters insurance.

Summary and Conclusion

The PropertyNest team encourages all tenants to purchase renters insurance and protect their personal property belonging in case of a catastrophic event. Tenant landlords are not responsible in most cases for the loss. For many, a loss of personal property in a fire, for example, is more than just a physical loss of property, but is also an emotional event.

Buying renters insurance can give you peace of mind knowing you have chosen an insurance company with integrity to navigate the loss and help you recover.

Consider getting several renters insurance quotes to compare pricing and coverage options and remember if you live in an area prone to flood or earthquake, consider asking your insurance professional about those natural disasters, too.